The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

Chapter Seventy-Nine: It's All Otto's Fault

"it's over……"

On the shattered earth, Su Qi stood before the forehead of the mechanical colossus, its chest ripped open and its body mangled, lying like a small mountain on the ground. Beneath his feet, the colossus's massive head had been severed, revealing countless tangled pipes and cables, and at its very center a control console connecting all the pipes and cables.

Sitting on the control panel was a girl whose appearance was almost identical to that of the mechanical giant god, a slightly more mature version of Kiana. She looked no different from an ordinary human. However, Su Qi knew that she was not human, but the true form of the "Honkai Will," a humanoid host created by the Transcendent Civilization.

Durandal and Rita had visited once before and saw the humanoid mainframe. In its original form, its power was far weaker than when it wore the "Colossus Armor," but even so, it was still stronger than the Herrscher of the End and could easily crush everyone in this world.

Now, the life support system located in the heart of the humanoid host has been pierced by the thrown reverse scale, killing it on the spot, or rather, it has crashed. However, due to the special nature of humanoid computers, it is not impossible for it to be repaired and reactivated.

I'm sorry.

Su Qi then recalled his Reverse Scale, flew into the air, and casually threw a punch. The mountain-like wreckage of the mechanical giant instantly shattered, turning into countless steel parts that scattered in all directions. The next moment, he heard the system notification that the mission was complete.

"Thank goodness, we don't have to fight the entire Transcendent civilization across the universe."

Su Qi immediately breathed a sigh of relief, then withdrew his rebellious aura, feeling utterly bored.

"It's still not up to par... It's good that I can pass the level easily, but even the final boss is only this level, so it's not exciting to fight and it's very boring."

At this moment, besides being troubled by his baldness, he once again experienced the lonely state of mind of a certain Bald Qiang. For him, with the cheat of unlimited saves and his safety protected, each trial was actually like a virtual game with 100% realism. And games are like this: if the enemy is too strong, it will discourage you; if the enemy is too weak, it will be boring. Only when it is just right can it bring fun.

To be fair, the humanoid host whose name we don't even know is powerful enough to be the final boss. Her ability is simple, yet extremely powerful, capable of interfering with the world's rules within a ten-kilometer radius of herself, achieving an effect akin to a god's domain.

Without the ability to withstand changes in the world's rules, no matter how many enemies come, they will all die. However, such a powerful ability also has drawbacks. First, it requires a large amount of Honkai energy to be consumed. Second, interfering with the outside world takes time. Although this time is very short, less than a second, for a superhuman like Su Qi, a second is enough for him to run a hundred kilometers back and forth, and then leisurely take a bath and change into new clothes.

Not to mention that the tower used to convert Honkai energy had already been completely destroyed in the previous barrage of attacks, so the opponent's chances of winning were indeed as close to zero as he had said. But this was not because it was too weak, but because someone had been hiding for too long, resulting in a complete crushing advantage in basic attributes.

"Thinking about it carefully, to defeat her, I didn't actually need to hide for a whole year. So even though I didn't die once this time, the mission evaluation probably won't be very high."

Su Qi sighed inwardly, somewhat regretting that he had let Otto die so easily earlier. If Otto hadn't been so good at hiding and hadn't concealed the key, he wouldn't have been delayed for so long.

"Well, no matter what, the trials of this world are finally over, and I can finally get some rest."

After glancing at the broken parts scattered below, he took out the shuttle that Einstein had prepared for him and activated it.

……

Meanwhile, on Earth, after Su Qi destroyed the Conversion Tower and defeated the Mainframe, the Honkai Beast hordes besieging major cities experienced a precipitous drop in Honkai energy concentration. The rate at which new Honkai Beasts were being born slowed, and the Honkai Beasts immediately lost their continuous supply advantage, becoming visibly thinner.

At this moment, the morale of the crowd, who had been overwhelmed by the sudden surge in Honkai Beasts, was greatly boosted. The defensive lines that were on the verge of collapse were immediately stabilized, and they pushed outwards, quickly wiping out the remaining Honkai Beasts.

Then, a sense of relief and cheers of relief resounded in every city and in every corner of the world.

"Ha, it seems that Brother Su Qi has succeeded."

At the Schicksal headquarters, on the outer artillery emplacements, Himeko, covered in blood and panting, smiled as she fought her way through the Honkai beast horde.

Beside her, Xiyue was not so optimistic. There was only a glimmer of hope in her eyes as she wiped the blood off her sword and whispered, "If only that were true."

"We'll definitely succeed! Su Qi has never let us down, and besides... he's the strongest human!"

Theresa's voice came through the communication channel. Over the past year, Su Qi's ability to deliver a single punch to any enemy had given her immense confidence, and she was willing to trust that man.

"Rest assured, we will be the ultimate winners."

Roselle's voice rang out, her tone as calm as ever, yet with an unwavering certainty, as if she had foreseen the future, instilling immense confidence in those around her. Indeed, she had long foreseen the outcome; after all, with infinite rewind time, it was impossible for them to lose.

Just then, Einstein's voice came through the communication channel, "Su Qi is back."

Theresa asked eagerly, "How did it go? Did we win? How badly was that guy hurt?"

His words carried a hint of unease, clearly indicating that he had been putting on a brave face and hadn't completely relaxed.

"As a result... everyone, according to Su Qi himself, the root cause of the Honkai has been ended by his own hands, and there will be no more Honkai phenomena in the future."

After Einstein made this statement, there was a moment of silence on the communication channel, followed by a series of voices with different tones.

"What did you say!?"

"Honkai has been eradicated? The Honkai phenomenon will never reappear? Is that true?"

"Hey, you with the messy hair, you're not kidding us, are you?"

"The collapse... has it finally been ended by Su Qi...?"

"How is that possible? That man actually did it?"

"Great! I knew Su Qi wouldn't let us down! This time, humanity has won!!"

……

Einstein's voice rang out again, "It may seem unbelievable, but I don't believe he would lie about something like this, so everyone... please cheer!"

After the words were spoken, there was a moment of silence, followed by an outburst from a certain loli archbishop, which instantly made the entire communication channel lively.

Chapter 80 The World's Strongest Route 11 Bus

"Is it finally... coming to an end...?"

Listening to the noise from the communication channel, Himeko slowly gripped the hilt of her greatsword, her eyes momentarily glazed over.

Honkai, humanity's greatest enemy, killed hundreds of millions of humans, as well as countless of her comrades... Upon hearing the news that Honkai had been eradicated, she felt a sense of unreality, as if in a dream, but more than anything, she felt a heartfelt joy and relief.

Captain, Elsa, Eleanor, Anne, Emma...

In a daze, she seemed to see her former comrades-in-arms appear before her, smile slightly, turn around and leave, gradually disappearing into the distance.

"We... can finally stop fighting, right..."

Himeko murmured softly, her back, which remained upright and taut no matter what dire situation she was in, slowly relaxed like the back of a sturdy greatsword.

"Ah... I suddenly feel so tired after relaxing like this..."

At this moment, the obsession that had sustained her through her illness and kept her fighting at the highest intensity on the front lines of the battlefield was finally slowly fading away. Feeling that every cell in her body was exhausted, she finally loosened her grip on the sword hilt, lowered her body, and leaned against the protective railing outside the gun emplacement, supporting herself with only one hand on the upright greatsword.

"Then... let me rest for a bit."

Himeko finally closed her eyes slowly, with a relieved smile as if everything had been burned away, and quietly fell into a deep sleep.

The clear sunlight shone on her, and her fiery red armor and long hair shimmered with a golden-red glow, making this veteran, who had sacrificed her best years in the fight against the Honkai, look like a statue or a monument.

At this moment, Yuuki, who had been too focused on the communication channel, finally noticed Himeko's unusual behavior.

"Himeko?"

She temporarily blocked the communication channel and looked at Himeko, who was sitting on the gun platform and looked as if she had turned gray and white. An ominous premonition rose in her heart.

"Himeko?"

She called out again, but Himeko remained motionless, quietly, quietly asleep.

"Do not……"

Upon seeing this, a sense of panic suddenly arose in Yuuki's heart, and her hands, which were able to firmly grip the long sword and easily cleave through the Honkai Beast armor, trembled slightly.

She remembered. A year ago, Himeko's body had been severely eroded by Honkai energy due to her long service time, and doctors estimated that she only had two or three years to live. However, in the past year or so, the intensity of the Honkai disaster had increased rapidly, and Himeko was one of the Valkyries who fought the most every day, so the rate of erosion should be much faster than originally expected. It was very likely that she had reached her limit in just one year.

Now, as Himeko completely relaxed, her body finally gave way and collapsed.

Thinking of this, Yuuki immediately rushed to Himeko's side, half-crouched down, and anxiously called out, "Himeko! Himeko! Himeko!"

As she spoke, she gripped Himeko's shoulders tightly and shook her gently, but Himeko's eyes remained closed, her body heavy and powerless, offering no response.

"Himeko! What are you doing, Himeko! Open your eyes! Don't collapse here!!"

A huge panic gripped her heart. Yuuki shouted loudly and shook Himeko's upper body even more vigorously. Then... a miracle actually happened!

"Xi...Xi Yue...what are you...what are you doing?"

Himeko finally slowly opened her eyes, uttering broken, weak sounds.

"Himeko!!"

Tears welled up in Yuuki's eyes as she hugged her friend tightly. "Thank goodness! Thank goodness! Himeko, you're alive!"

However, despite the discomfort of being tightly bound, Himeko, overwhelmed by her best friend's excitement, said with a helpless and exhausted expression, "Yuzuki, I haven't slept for over ten hours. I'll die if I don't sleep soon. Are you trying to kill me?"

"Uh……"

Xi Yue froze, realizing she had made a blunder. She quickly released her friend from her arms, looking apologetic, and said, "I'm sorry, I thought you... I thought you..."

"You thought I was dead?"

Himeko smiled and turned to look at the bright sky in the distance. "Didn't I say that I wouldn't die until I found a good man to marry?"

……

A few hours later, at the Tianming headquarters airport, Su Qi and Einstein returned aboard a transport ship.

boom!

As the gangway was lowered, Su Qi stepped out first. As soon as he entered the port, he saw a huge crowd of people in front of him, with countless eager gazes directed at him, as if everyone from the entire Destiny Headquarters had come to watch him.

"Uh……"

Su Qi paused slightly. But who was he? An absolute powerhouse who had long since transcended human shame! He only paused for a moment, then continued walking, mimicking the Great Leader by raising his right hand and smiling, "Hello, comrades, you've worked hard."

The crowd opposite them fell silent for a few seconds, and then... as Theresa, who was standing at the front, sighed softly and clapped gently, the applause grew louder and louder, spreading like flames burning on hay, and sweeping across the entire venue.

As the greatest contributor to eradicating the Honkai, Su Qi received a grand welcome befitting a hero's triumph. In fact, he truly was a hero in his own right. Just hours before, when Destiny and various governments announced that Su Qi had eradicated the Honkai disaster, he had become a savior-like hero.

After a while, the enthusiastic welcoming ceremony finally dispersed under Theresa's direction. Although the Honkai disaster had ended, the cleanup work had only just begun. There was still much work to be done and many sacrifices to be made; it was not yet time to completely relax.

Afterwards, he chatted with Theresa and the others for a few more minutes. Once they left, Su Qi finally had an empty space next to him.

"Phew, it's finally over."

Su Qi let out a soft sigh. He preferred a quiet life, so he didn't really enjoy dealing with large groups of people.

"Does even a newly minted savior get shy?"

"I just prefer quiet. Besides, to be honest, it feels pretty good to be worshipped as a hero."

He turned around and saw a white-stockinged, cat-eared maid loli appear silently behind him; it was Roselle.

Do you want to be a hero?

"No, I want to be the male protagonist of an isekai harem light novel."

"Unfortunately, it's not gentle enough."

"Maybe so, but I firmly believe that my good looks can make up for any shortcomings."

"In that case..."